Bananas.org - Tamal Platano, on the Grill

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Tamal Platano, on the Grill

Tamal Platano, which are sweet plantain cakes, are a Southern Ecuadorean specialty - they're another great side-dish, especially for spicy meat dishes. You can make as many or as few of these cakes as you like; a good rule is that one large regular ripe plantain (the kind you get at the grocery store) makes two cakes. One ripe Hua Moa or Orinoco makes one cake.

For 4 cakes, you need:

2 large ripe plantains
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh cheese (Queso Fresco or Ricotta work very well)
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of Cumin
a pinch of Nutmeg
4 clean Canna leaves, soaked in salt water OR a large banana leaf, quartered, and soaked in salt water.

Optional fillings:
A strip of crisp bacon
Black olives
Red pepper slices
Walnuts

How do I do it, you ask?

Peel the plantains and mash them together with the egg, cheese, powder, and spices. If the dough seems too liquid, add a bit of plantain or tapioca flour until it's a bit stiffer. Form this into four elongated balls.

Break the spines of the canna leaves, and place one ball on each. Fold the sides of the leaves in over the dough, then fold the tips of the leaves backwards. Secure with a bit of twine if you like - the weight of the dough inside the wrapper should keep them closed, however.

Lay these on the BBQ grill over low flame and close the lid. They're cooked when firm to the touch - they'll rise a bit while they're cooking and expand to fill the space inside the leaves.

Peel the cakes out of the canna leaves, and enjoy!

If you find these to be very heavy and want fluffier cakes, you should mash the bananas with the egg yolks, cheese, and spices, and beat the egg whites to a stiff peak, then fold these in to the banana mixture. This lightens the texture of the cakes considerably.

You can also steam these on the stovetop; this produces a different flavour since grilling adds the spicy, smoky flavour of charred canna to the cakes.